Lemon: A repair manual to reverse the crisis in creative effectiveness

By Orlando Wood

Based on the premise that advertising has lost its humanity and its ability to entertain, this latest publication from the IPA chronicles the decline in creative effectiveness and seeks to provide tangible solutions to reverse it.

Author Orlando Wood, chief innovation officer at neuroscience agency System 1, posits that short-termism and a general narrowing of focus have resulted in work that is “flat, abstract, dislocated and devitalised”, meaning advertising no longer moves people.

Using the latest neuroscience research, Lemon attempts to identify the elements in advertising that appeal most to the holistic right brain – such as metaphor, music and a sense of place – and those which play into left-brain thinking, including on-screen text and rapid rhythmic edits.

Analysing 30 years of TV ads, the book traces the decline of right-brained elements and then uses effectiveness research to show how these declining elements are most effective for brand growth.

By Seth Godin

In his latest blog, Seth Godin addresses what he sees as a widescale shift in large organisations towards mediocracy.

Godin argues that if brands define a specification and work hard to meet it, the result is that most of the work produced is average. “If an entire industry is busy seeking to meet that average, we can define that work as mediocre. Not horrible, but certainly not exceptional,” he states.

For Godin the choice is simple – marketers can demand work that meets the industry spec or seek something that is better than average and therefore worth paying extra for. This also means accepting there is a risk attached as the work might not perform as planned, but the pay off could be huge.

5 steps to creating the right pricing strategy

The ability to develop an effective pricing framework relies on intelligent strategic planning and starts by taking control of how your customers perceive your brand, according to customer data research company Dunnhumby.

The first trick is to develop a broad pricing strategy that brings together the executives and pricing teams, which at the same time identifies the price sensitivity of your customer base. Secondly, the advice is to determine the key products that have the most influence on your brand’s price perception and invest in them fairly and competitively.

Next, marketers should establish a customer-first pricing policy that takes into account the categories their customers care most about and then prioritise the categories that need to be more competitive.

After executing your plan and keeping track of performance, brands must review their internal price and promotion capability. Having an empowered pricing and promotions team, with the right data tools at their fingertips, will help ensure the strategy is implemented quickly.

Is kids’ mental health being left behind?

By Marco Bertozzi

In his blog, Marco Bertozzi, vice-president for EMEA sales at Spotify, questions whether enough is being done to protect children’s mental health and suggests ideas could be borrowed from the corporate world.

Bertozzi points to the decision taken by the leadership team at Spotify not to email their teams outside working hours or at weekends. When his direct reports are on holiday, for example, Bertozzi insists that they relax and do not check emails, as taking a rest is vital.

“It sends shivers when people say ‘yeah I am off, but will be on email’. Don’t do it, don’t do a poor job of your holiday and a poor job of working and at the end of it all, not properly relax. That’s no use to me,” he states.

However, if adults are being encouraged to switch off, how can it be right then that children are working on homework over the weekend and holidays?

Bertozzi believes schools should take a cue from the approach being adopted in the corporate world and encourages parents to keep asking questions to ensure that their children’s mental health is being prioritised.